Rangers can expand active roster Sunday. Not all deserving players will be called up.
Come to Globe Life Park this weekend to see the Texas Rangers retire the jersey of all-time great Michael Young.
Stay for the juggling act that will take place in anticipation of the annual expansion of the active roster.
MLB permits rosters to grow from 25 player to as many as 40 for the season’s final month. It’s a time for contending teams to fortify themselves for a playoff push, and for non-contenders teams to evaluate for next season.
The Rangers, who beat the Seattle Mariners 6-3 on Friday, fall into the latter grouping with 26 games remaining. The Rangers will add players Sunday and early next week after the minor-league seasons end.
Any player on the 40-man roster is a candidate to be promoted, and there are pitchers on the 60-day injured list who will be activated.
But not everyone who is on the 40-man or who deserves a September call-up will be promoted.
While the 25-man roster can grow the 40, the 40-man roster stays put. A player’s chances at appearing in September are reduced if he isn’t on the 40-man.
The only way to create a 40-man spot is to put a player on the 60-day IL or to designate him for assignment.
That’s why the Rangers will be in the midst a juggling act the next few days.
“I think there’s still some movement there,” general manager Jon Daniels said. “But, yeah, we’re going to have to take some guys off.”
Here’s a glance at some candidates for promotion.
Ronald Guzman, 1B
He’s coming. No doubt.
Guzman was the Rangers’ Opening Day first baseman and remains a potential piece of the future. But his performance this season, which resulted in a July demotion, has made his future less shiny than it was a year ago.
He has made changes at the plate at Nashville and entered Friday batting .308 in 104 at-bats. He’s going to play a lot next month.
“I can’t promise every day, but I do want to see him,” manager Chris Woodward said.
Patrick Wisdom, 3B
A .243 hitter doesn’t deserve a promotion. Right?
Not necessarily, as Wisdom has flourished at Nashville since the Rangers designated him for assignment July 6 and he went unclaimed.
He batted .201 with 13 homers in the 62 games before his DFA. He has batted .302 with 16 homers and a .660 slugging percentage in the 42 games since he was outrighted to Nashville.
Third base is a bigger issue than first base going forward for the Rangers, but he’s not on the 40-man roster and could be headed home.
Matt Davidson, 1B/3B
The positions he plays and the power he possesses make him a candidate. He can pitch, too, but has only logged one inning this season at Nashville.
Woodward spoke glowingly in spring training about Davidson, saying he has a chance to be an elite MLB hitter if his new swing were to take hold. Elite.
Davidson entered Friday with 32 homers, 96 RBIs and an .871 OPS. His average has climbed to a season-high .266, suggesting maybe those changes are starting to click.
Like Wisdom, Davidson is not on the 40-man.
“He’s had a hell of a year,” Woodward said. “We talk about him a lot. I still like him. I expected him to be here at some point. I don’t know if that’s going to happen.”
Demarcus Evans, RHP
Evans is again dominating another level, this time Double A Frisco after impressive showings at Low A Hickory in 2018 and High A Down East earlier this season.
He needs four more strikeouts for a second straight season with 100.
Evans is a reliever and must be placed on the 40-man roster by November, so the Rangers don’t risk losing him in the Rule 5 draft.
They will have roster spots then that they don’t have now.
Joe Barlow, RHP
If Evans is the peanut butter, then Barlow is the jelly. They have been paired together for most of the past two seasons, and he has been just as effective as Evans.
But Barlow has found the going at Triple A a bit tougher than any of his previous stops, and that might make the Rangers think twice about him and Evans.
Like Evans, the Rangers would be at risk of losing Barlow in the Rule 5 if he isn’t added to the 40-man by November.
David Carpenter, RHP
Who leads all of Triple A in saves? Carpenter does.
He has had two shorts stints with the Rangers in a comeback season, and each time has been designated for assignment and gone unclaimed.
He’s been dominant at Nashville, holding foes to a .172 average and issuing only three homers in the homer-happy Pacific Coast League.
But he’s 34 and has years worth of injury concerns stuck to him.
Tim Dillard, RHP
The Rangers have previously thrown a bone to a longtime minor-leaguer, promoting Guilder Rodriguez at the end of the 2014 season, and Dillard is deserving of a reward after what he’s done at Nashville.
A reliever since 2010, Dillard has made 20 starts this season and fared well with a 4.80 ERA. His pitching is a quirky as his Twitter account, which was suspended earlier this season.
He has resurfaced on Twitter as @DimothyTillard. He would resurface in the majors for the first time since 2012 if the Rangers throw him a bone.
This story was originally published August 30, 2019 at 7:23 PM.
